Ask the experts

At John Charcol, we are constantly asked for advice by borrowers on what they should do when it comes to mortgages.  As such, we created this section so that you can submit your questions to our experts.  The answers are provided by a team of experts, led by our in house mortgage technical manager, Simon Collins, who has spent the last 10 years helping our consultants to place mortgage applications.

So please do submit your question and we will do all we can to answer it as quickly as possible.  Regrettably, we are unable to answer every question due to the popularity of this section. 

Please note, John Charcol cannot provide legal or tax advice.  If your enquiry contains a legal or taxation query we will refer you to our in house legal team, Rollingsons Solicitors Limited.  By submitting your enquiry to us you are confirming that you consent to our passing your contact details to them.

Please be aware that these answers can only be generic and no personal recommendations can be made.


23/05/2013

Is age a limiting factor in becoming a landlord at 75? I have a fully owned property worth £550/£600k,therefore free of mortgage. I have read that with buy to let mortgages now relatively cheap, I could raise say £400k on my...

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Categories: Buy-to-let, Capital Raising, Mortgages in retirement, Let-to-buy, Remortgaging


23/05/2013

I need to raise around £50,000 cash, I own my own home outright value £300,000 and another one value £125,000 I have a 48K mortgage on another property, value approx. 135K and a 50k mortgage on a property valued at around 100k in...

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Categories: Capital Raising, Remortgaging


21/05/2013

My ex is still on my mortgage and he hasn't paid any contributions towards it and has asked to have his name off of it. Do I have to re mortgage or is it simply a paper exercise

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Categories: Separation or Divorce, Remortgaging, Legal matters, Capital Raising


21/05/2013

Can we use the equity in our flat to buy a second home? We bought our flat for £115k and put a £23k deposit down 4 years ago. The flat is now worth £130-£135k with a rental value of £750p/m. We have seen a house we'd like to buy...

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Categories: Buy-to-let, Capital Raising, Let-to-buy, Home mover


20/05/2013

Hi. We have been trying to sell our flat, valued at £250k, for over a year and have just seen a property that meets all our criteria for £230k. Someone suggested a Let-to-Buy mortgage and I would like some advice on if this is...

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Categories: Let-to-buy, Capital Raising, Buy-to-let, Home mover


19/05/2013

I own outright a home and my boyfriend owns a home outright. He earns twice as much as me and 'we' want to buy a home together 50/50 that we live in maybe three days a week. We need to borrow money to do this, which would be the...

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Categories: Home mover, Capital Raising, Second properties, Remortgaging


19/05/2013

I would like to take out a mortgage for £100,000 on a property worth £237.000 I have properties at the moment worth around £400.000 (no mortgages). My income is around £40,000 per year. I'm 68 years old in in June this year.

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Categories: Mortgages in retirement, Capital Raising, Buy-to-let, Remortgaging


19/05/2013

I have a house in Oxford worth £200,000 pounds with no mortgage on it. Could I remortgage it to £70,000 to buy a cottage in Ireland? Problematic is perhaps that I live in Germany and am 68.Thanks!

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Categories: Buy-to-let, Capital Raising, Remortgaging, Mortgages in retirement, Ex Pat mortgages


18/05/2013

Our house is worth approximately £300k and we owe £65k on the mortgage. We would like to move but can't sell and are thinking of letting our existing property to buy a new one. We would like to increase the mortgage on the...

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Categories: Buy-to-let, Home mover, Interest only vs repayment, Let-to-buy, Capital Raising


17/05/2013

Hi, We have 18 months left before we have paid off our mortgage. Our house is worth approx £250,000. We would like to extend our existing mortgage to allow us to buy another property at £75,000, as a buy to let. Do we need to...

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Categories: Buy-to-let, Capital Raising, Remortgaging


Terms & conditions

Your initial mortgage consultation is obligation free. There will be a minimum fee for our mortgage service of £450, of which £150 is payable when you apply, and we will retain the commission from the mortgage lender. Alternatively, you can choose the fee only option which is typically 0.65% of the amount borrowed. The precise amount will depend on your circumstances and mortgage loan amount, and will be discussed and agreed before you make a mortgage application.

YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON A MORTGAGE OR ANY DEBT SECURED ON IT

Legals

John Charcol is a trading style of Towergate Financial (West) Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority; our registration number is 147692. John Charcol Associates LLP is an appointed representative of Towergate Financial (West) Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.  Registered office: Towergate House, Eclipse Park, Sittingbourne Road, Maidstone, Kent ME14 3EN. Registered in England No: 02292688.  This mortgage site is only directed at persons within the UK.   The FCA does not regulate some investment mortgage contracts.  Calls may be recorded for training and monitoring. Max call charge from a BT landline is 3.9p per minute. Calls from other networks may vary.